United States President Barack Obama signed a bill on Friday that bars Iran’s proposed ambassador to the United Nations from legally gaining entry to the US.

One week earlier, White House press secretary Jay Carney
confirmed that the Obama administration was opposed to Iran’s
request to have Hamid Aboutalebi serve as the Islamic Republic’s
ambassador to the UN.

As RT reported previously, Aboutalebi, 56, previously served as
Iran’s ambassador to three countries and the European Union, but
is perhaps most infamously known in the US for his alleged role
within a group, Muslim Students Following the Imam's Line, that
occupied the US Embassy in Tehran in 1979 and held dozens of
Americans hostage.

Congress earlier this month drafted a bill barring Aboutalebi
from entering the US, but such decisions require the approval of
the president himself. Amidst pressure from Capitol Hill, Pres.
Obama signed a decree doing such on Friday.

The bill, S 2195, “den[ies] admission to the United States to
any representative to the United Nations who has been found to
have been engaged in espionage activities or a terrorist activity
against the United States and poses a threat to United States
national security interests.”

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), the author of the bill, said when he
proposed it that Iran’s choice for UN envoy was a “deliberate
and unambiguous insult to the United States.”

“Given the larger strategic threats to the United States and
our allies, represented by Iran’s nuclear ambitions, this is not
the moment for diplomatic niceties,” he said.“I am proud
to join my colleagues on both sides of the aisle on this national
security issue that transcends political parties.”

The latest efforts out of Washington come on the heels of the
first discussions between the American and Iranian heads of
states in decades. Last year Pres. Obama and his Iranian
counterpart, Hassan Rouhani, spoke over the phone for the first
time ever, and afterwards the American leader said "I believe
we can reach a comprehensive solution” concerning Iran’s
nuclear program. Discussions on the matter were expected to be
entertained by the UN, but a dispute over Iran’s choice of envoy
may now jeopardize those talks.